Some Yarmouth selectmen oppose proposal for new school

John Basile jbasile@wickedlocal.com @jbasileRegister

Thursday

Nov 15, 2018 at 9:35 AMNov 16, 2018 at 8:19 AM

Voters in Yarmouth and across the Bass River in Dennis go to the polls Dec. 4 in a special election seeking approval of plans and funding for a new grade 4-7 school. And the project may well win approval. But it will be without the endorsement of at least three Yarmouth selectmen.

In a wide-ranging discussion of the the school project Tuesday night, some Yarmouth selectmen expressed skepticism that Dennis will agree to make changes to the Dennis-Yarmouth regional agreement that governs how the district is funded. Yarmouth selectmen contend that a more equitable funding formula is needed before they will support the proposed new school project. Three members of the board, Tracy Post, Norman Holcomb and Michael Stone expressed support for Yarmouth building its own middle school rather than one with Dennis.

The discussion was part of the first of three planned sessions for public review of the school building project. The final session will be held Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. at Yarmouth Town Hall.

The proposed new school would replace both the Mattacheese Middle School in West Yarmouth and the Nathaniel Wixon School in South Dennis. The school, proposed for land owned by the D-Y school district adjacent to the Station Avenue School in South Yarmouth, would accommodate 940 students in grades 4-7.

The state would reimburse the towns at more than 57 percent, but portions of the new school would not be covered by that reimbursement. Areas such as the auditorium and an artificial turf athletic field would not be reimbursable.

After reimbursement, Yarmouth would pay about $48.6 million, and Dennis would pay about $24.1 million for the grade 4-7 school under the regional agreement as it now stands.

Yarmouth selectmen have proposed a 60-40 percent split of capital costs of a new school, something Dennis officials oppose because the town sends only about 33 percent of students to the district's schools. Dennis selectmen have proposed a funding mechanism based on the foundation enrollment of the two towns; the number of children for whom a town is financially responsible whether or not they attend school in the district. Currently, costs are shared based on actual enrollment.

Originally, the school district sought replacement of only the Mattacheese school, but after reviewing the district's needs, the Massachusetts School Building Authority recommended one new school to replace the two existing middle schools.

On Tuesday night, Post said she believes the Dennis Finance Committee would "fight against any change" to the regional agreement.

"I believe that regionalizing the schools together has an educational benefit, but at some point in time we have to weigh whether or not the partnership is something we're going to work on into the future and stay together," Post said. "We need to worry about Yarmouth; our students, our taxpayers."

Post acknowledged that the Mattacheese Middle School and the M.E. Small elementary school, both in West Yarmouth, are nearing the end of their useful lives and will require replacement soon.

"If the people of Yarmouth don't feel that the agreement is fair, we need to look at doing a Mattacheese-M.E. Small building, and build one school." She said Yarmouth taxpayers will be asked to spend $48 million on the town's share of the proposed grade 4-7 school, then in a few years be asked for more money to replace the M.E. Small school.

Selectmen Chairman Norman Holcomb referred to the regional agreement as "like the base layer of a pyramid," and that for eight years negotiations have been ongoing to try to change that agreement. "I don't want to see us move forward with a $117 million project when we don't have that base of that pyramid in good order."

Holcomb said he believes the towns can agree to "a better funding scenario." He noted that at one point the two towns were close to agreement, but, he said, Dennis withdrew the proposal before it could be finalized.

Selectman Michael Stone said he does not believe the allocation is fair under the current regional agreement. "The problem with the Dennis-Yarmouth school district is that it's an obsolete agreement." Stone said. "I'm not optimistic that things are going to change with respect to our relationship with Dennis. But you can't look at this project apart from how the distribution of the tax burden is going to be made."

Stone added, however, that if voters approve the school project as it now stands he will support it.

Selectman Mark Forest indicated that he was more intent on listening to residents opinions than in lobbying for or against the school proposal. Selectman Erik Tolley was absent from the meeting.

Several residents offered comments on the school proposal Tuesday night.

Kristin Sullivan-Stone told selectmen it would be less costly to build the new school with Dennis than to repair the extisting, aging schools or go alone into a new school building project.

Joyce Flynn told selectmen that building the new school adjacent to the existing Station Avenue School would create a campus that would be attractive to parents and potentially help the D-Y district bring in students from surrounding towns through the school choice program.

Should be proposed new school not win approval at the ballot box Dec. 4, the district would have 120 days to come up with a positive vote on that same proposal with only limited scope adjustments allowed by the MSBA, according to Chad Crittenden of PMA consultants, the Owner’s Project Management firm for project. Only slight alterations would be allowed.

"There is no opportunity to reconsider another solution and have it funded by the MSBA under the current agreement. Should the district wish to pursue an alternate solution, the district would be required to submit a new Statement of Interest," Crittenden wrote in an email.

A new feasibility study and schematic design phase costs for a new proposal would not be funded by the MSBA.

Note: This is a corrected version of a report that was published online on Nov. 15.